First Homemade Granola

Loose granola has been on my DIY list ever since I discovered how much I like it with yogurt.  Especially greek yogurt.  Now, I can finally say I made some!


I used this recipe as a base for my jumping off point.

In a large bowl, I mixed together:
3c rolled oats (because I didn't have old fashion)
1/2c unsalted peanuts
1/2c unsalted almonds
2 Tbs flax seeds (mine are whole, but most recipes call for ground flax)


In a separate measuring cup, I used the microwave to assist melting together:
1/4c applesauce (mine is homemade, so I know it is only apples & a dash of water)
1/4c peanut butter

Then stirred in:
1 1/2 Tbs honey
**I wanted to include 1-2 tsp vanilla extract but I forgot to add it.


I poured the melted mixture over the dry ingredients and mixed until fully coated.


Spread out on a parchment lined cookie sheet.  The thinner the better.  It will roast a little quicker, especially at the edges so be sure to "stir" or disturb it so as to work the edge pieces toward the middle and vice versa.


Bake at 300-350*F, setting the timer for 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes, give it a good stir and bake another 10 minutes.  My first batch was thicker so I baked it for 10+10+5 (25 minutes).  The second batch was much thinner, baking for 10+10 (20 minutes).

Allow to cool (I only had enough parchment for one baking sheet so I cooled the first batch in a glass bowl) and mix in:
1/2 - 3/4c dried cherries


After roasting and allowing the granola to cool, I can definitely tell it is missing some flavor.  I stirred in the dried cherries while it cooled which helped add a little zip to it, but I think 2 tsp or 1 Tbs vanilla extract would really help bring out some more flavor in this granola.

Now I'm off to try a cup of homemade yogurt with some of this new granola.  :)

A Few New Changes

A couple weekends ago, my wonderful husband organized 8 of our friends to come over and paint the second bedroom so we can start to convert it into a nursery.


(please excuse the mess; this was only a couple days after painting)

As a bonus (and because we were ready for a change in the living room), they also painted the living room a cheery yellow.  :)  I love how it looks when the sunlight pours in with its bluer light.  The table lamps are a little warmer in color so I've been on the look out for bluer LED bulbs to swap them out.

So far I have a handful of hand-knitted baby items made up (mittens, socks, hats, one blanket and one sweater) but I feel like a slacker that I don't have more sweaters and more longies made up.

A few of the smaller items I have collected for Baby.

These bibs + washcloths are from BeastiesBabies

Lots of knitted socks + mittens

I also keep thinking I need to make a few outfit pieces (sweater dresses/jumpers and sweater vests).

What item(s) would you most recommend I make a priority to knit before baby is here?  Is there something that you are so happy you made and use all the time or highly recommend now that you have a little wisdom under your belt?  Please let me know!  

Homemade Christmas

I've never been that excited for Christmas the last couple of years because it's always snuck up on me and I was always too busy to really get prepared for the holiday.  I didn't have time to decorate or go shopping for all my loved ones & made me irritated for holiday season (which I hated, and made me even more upset).  And then working in retail where Christmas comes before Halloween, I *really* hated the holiday season.

So imagine my surprise when I find myself starting to think about what I want to bake for Christmas Eve dinner at my grandfather's house.  Or how I want to decorate the mantel (because we have a house now!).  Maybe it's a combination of our first Christmas married, and our first Christmas in our new house & my not working in retail anymore.  I even find myself thinking about Christmas decorating and it's not even Thanksgiving yet!  Yikes!  I used to hate when people would do that before Thanksgiving and now I'm one of them! haha.

So in the spirit of preparing & getting excited for the holidays this year, I thought it'd be fun to dream a little about what a homemade Christmas would look like in our new home this year.

This year I want to focus on making some Garlands...

             
The paper garlands would be fun projects to do when babysitting.

lots of Ornaments...
(both made by my husband and I if we can organize an afternoon to do some crafting :) and I'm sure the kids I babysit would love to make some ornaments with me)



     
 Painted ornaments (Local Craftstores have these ornaments kits)

   

Can you believe these are crocheted?
Where do I find a pattern to do this.  These make awesome Christmas gifts, too.

   
Ornaments made from origami.
Now I have another reason to hang out with my dad. 
I don't know how I could replicate these, but I just
LOVE the colors!  If I went with tradition ornaments, this is what I'd get.


Wreaths...
This would go well with that silver tree skirt (below).




My favorite, traditional & simple wreath.


Stockings...
(I've been wanting to knit our own but with all the gifts I still have to make, I doubt I'll have enough time to get them completed for this Christmas.  Maybe next year)

    
I'm a sucker for the traditional with only a touch of new.

and since both my husband and I are really excited to have a real Christmas tree, we'll need a tree skirt of course!

This tradition red & white skirt is what I had envisioned.


I didn't even think about knitting or crocheting one.

This one would be very sophisticated
for those holiday parties.
What are you planning for the holidays?  Or are you too busy like I used to be in the past years?

Homemade Snowflake Wrapping Paper


I don't remember where I found this picture (probably on etsy), but what a great idea for the holidays!  I have so many paper bags from the grocery store, I wonder if I could cut them flat and stamp them with sponge snowflakes?  Or I'd have to get a roll of craft paper so it'd be more pliable...

Are you making your own wrapping paper this holiday?

Progress on the Homemade Christmas List

Nothing new to post about the shop since last week. But the homemade Christmas presents list are starting to get crossed off and I can see the light at the end of the (quickly ending) tunnel :) Four presents in different stages of progress & two more to start.

Bonus: I already have four presents wrapped & all my Christmas shopping (minus ONE present) is DONE! :-D yay!

This is the first year I've been this ahead of the game, so I'm allowing myself a little pride in the fact, hehe.

How is your holiday shopping going?